An agricultural row crop planter is a machine built for evenly distributing seed into the ground. The row crop planter generally includes a horizontal toolbar fixed to a hitch assembly for towing behind a tractor or other vehicle. A plurality of row units are mounted to the toolbar. The row units include ground-working tools for opening and closing a seed furrow, a seed metering system for distributing seed to the seed furrow, and a storage bin for maintaining a seed supply to the seed meter. In different configurations, seed may be stored at individual hoppers on each row unit or it may be maintained in a central hopper and delivered to the row units as needed.
Seed in a row unit's storage hopper is generally supplied to the bin in one of two ways. In the first method, the hopper is periodically filled by the operator with seed from an external seed source, such as seed bags or a seed tender. In the second method, seed is continuously supplied to the row units from a central storage hopper. As the seed supply is depleted at the row unit, seed is pneumatically delivered from the central hopper. Depending on which of these two methods is used, a different hopper will be installed on the planter. In the first method, a larger hopper is desired to maximize the amount of seed that can be stored on the row unit, while in the second method, a smaller hopper is used to maintain a minimal amount of seed at the row unit.
In addition to the various hopper sizes, hopper shapes also differ depending on the type of seed meter selected. Three types of seed meters are commonly used; mechanical brush meters, mechanical finger meters, and air meters. To ensure that the seed meter will fit properly, a different hopper may be manufactured for each type of seed meter, thus adding another variable.
To accommodate the various combinations of hopper size and seed meter shape, a different hopper will need to be designed and manufactured for each arrangement. For example, hoppers being fitted with an air seed meter may need to be manufactured in a small size for pneumatic seed delivery and two large hoppers for manual fill. This requires the manufacture and inventory of a different hopper for each size of hopper offered for each seed meter type. Therefore, the number of hoppers could rise exponentially. If the hoppers are molded, this would require a different tooling for each hopper, which increases the costs associated with the production and storage of the hoppers greatly.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a more universal-type hopper that allows a variety of hopper volumes to be adapted to a variety of supply systems and seed meters without having to manufacture a unique hopper for each combination. The hopper may be modular, in that it can include a unit that allows for the attachment of various types of seed delivery mechanisms.